What would happen if your library closed up at night and purposefully left the front door unlocked? Every night? Eventually,…
Category: Web 2.0
What’s this TokBox thing?
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak about teens, tweens and social networking at the NEO-RLS Youth Services Symposium. …
Nibbling at Lunch.com
You know those sites that have a name that is in no way related to what it does? Lunch.com is…
Figuring out Foursquare
Physical locations in combination with the web are starting to hit it big, and is predicted to seriously take off…
[GUEST POST] Can you see me now? (Or, how transparent are you?)
Today’s guest post is by Bobbi Galvin, Customer Relations and Support at OPLIN. The Global Language Monitor has released its…
Unsticking Glue
This week I’m chatting about a web application called Glue . I look at a good number of web applications,…
Social Media in 20 Bite-Sized Pieces
“Winners take imperfect action while others are sitting around perfecting their plans.” –Kevin Nation Be the voice that is remembered,…
Why it’s time to kill off Internet Explorer 6
(Don’t know if you’re using IE6? You can check by opening up IE and going to Help–>About Internet Explorer. If…
Laura’s truths about social media
(In case you missed the memo, a lot of folks have replace the label “Web 2.0′ with “social media.” Probably…
Intermediate Twitter: #hashtags
(Thanks to Don Yarman for suggesting this topic–I’m always on the lookout for new fodder. Send your ideas to meanlaura@oplin.org.)…
Sharing your slides
Whether you do presentations in Powerpoint, OpenOffice or something else, making your slides publicly available can sometimes be a headache. …
Getting buy-in
I am often asked about how to get buy-in for new web-based initiatives. I ran across this slideshow today, which…
Signing in with ONE account
One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about using various web services and social networking sites is the need…
I can haz internet meme?
It’s the day after Turkey Day. Obviously, not a day for deep thoughts or complex topics, since most of us…
Consolidating your Web 2.0 profile
If you’re like me, you belong to more than a mere handful of social networking and sharing sites. Keeping track…
Walking the Web
Virtual worlds are everywhere now, it seems. Their purposes range from socializing and networking to education and conferences. And some…
Hulu: TV on demand
If you’ve ever seen my Facebook profile, you already know that I basically don’t watch television (much to the chagrin…
Firefly: every page a chat room?
Lately, I’ve been checking out a newish web app called Firefly. It’s a simple chat script that enables people to…
[GUEST POST] Listening & the pattern
Dan Rockwell is a User Experience Researcher at Lextant. [BACK STORY: I met Dan at BarCamp Ohio and started following…
Yelp: is your library in there?
There are a lot of online review sites. But one in particular is hitting the mainstream and has made the…
Short and sweet…URLs
Sometimes, URLs can be insanely long. For example: http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.com/ Or: http://www.microsoft.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?CMTYSvcSource=MSCOMMedia&Params=%7eCMTYDataSvcParams%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ID%22+Value%3d%221032301951%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ProviderID%22+Value%3d%22A6B43178-497C-4225-BA42-DF595171F04C%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22lang%22+Value%3d%22en%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22cr%22+Value%3d%22US%22%2f%5e%7esParams%5e%7e%2fsParams%5e%7e%2fCMTYDataSvcParams%5e Yes, both real. Both annoying. And, if you try…
Grabbing a gravatar
Do you like to use online forums or comment on blogs? If you do, chances are you’ve seen, or perhaps…
Lifestreaming, the next social act
I currently know more about the lives and interests of many of my professional contacts than I do about some…
Beyond the visual avatar
(Something kind of fun for a slow(er) Friday.) A couple of weeks ago I covered Weblins here, and someday, I…
The sins of library web sites
Ah, Twitter is a wonderful thing. I asked members of the Twitterverse to catalog the problems of library web sites,…
[GUEST POST] Is your library search bar friendly?
Don Yarman is the Deputy Director of Delaware County Public Library. Probably by now, you’re using a web browser that…
The web as social playground: Weblin
For the past several months, I have been experimenting with a little-known web application called Weblin. In effect, it allows…
RSS, Part II: Why your library web site needs a feed
I am assuming that, by now, you have a RSS reader/aggretator of your own and you now understand why RSS…
Facebook and public libraries
“Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People…
Why Flickr for libraries?
There has been an awful lot written about Flickr, one of the top online photo-sharing sites. I’m not out to…
Why link collections are dead…sort of
I am hoping, nay, I’m practically praying, that your library does not have either of the following: A collection of…